






*.• • 








Class 3 2*6 

Book *//'$" 






HAINES' REPORT 



TKAFFIC EESOUECES 



South & North Alabama Railroad. 



Hiram H 



ram n "a tr\ as 




MONTGOMERY, ALA.: 

BARRETT & BROWN, STEAM PRINTERS AND BOOK BINDERS. 

1872. 



REPORT. 



Montgomery, Ala., November 8, 1872. 
F. M. Gilmer, Jr., President S. & N. A. R. B.: 

Sir : In proceeding to carry out your instructions to make 
a topographical and geological examination of the country 
contiguous to the line of the South and North Alabama 
Railroad, with a view to ascertain approximately the value 
of the lauds of the Company, and to form an estimate of 
the traffic resources existing and susceptible of being de- 
veloped by its influence, I have endeavored to conduct my 
investigations in such a manner as would enable me to 
collect as much specific information as possible in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the road ; and as opportunity was af- 
forded, have extended my observations so as to obtain a 
more comprehensive acquaintance with the general features 
of the region embraced within the limits of my survey. 

The execution of that part of my instructions which re- 
ferred to the mineral resources of the country through 
which the road is located, was rendered easier by the fact 
that the line of the road crosses the strike of the strata 
comprised in the several formations over which it passes, 
with but a short and unimportant exception, throughout 
its entire length, and a section taken along its profile will 
at once exhibit the geological structure of the adjacent 
country. My first object, therefore, was to make a careful 
examination of the character and inclination of these va- 
rious strata, in order to construct such a section, from 
which, as a base, to extend my inquiries ; relying upon my 
own observation for positive information concerning the lo- 
cation, extent and character of the mineral deposits. 



This section, together with maps illustrating the topog- 
raphy and geology of the country, accompanies this re- 
port; and for the purpose of a more complete elucidation 
of questions respecting the relative geographical position 
of the mineral region of Alabama, with the developments 
of mining and iron manufacturing industries in other por- 
tions of the country, as well as to show the relation which 
your road bears as an agent in the development of the 
general resources of the State, and as a channel of com- 
mercial intercourse, I have also prepared a map of the 
United States showing its most important connections, and 
embodying the fullest information that I could collect re- 
specting'the location and present status of the iron manu- 
facturing and coal mining operations throughout the coun- 
try. Reference to these will enable me to present with 
more clearness a description of the field of my survey, and 
to convey more intelligently the views which I may find 
occasion to express respecting its prospective development 
and comparative importance. 

In earlier days of railway enterprise, the popular idea 
associated the construction of a railroad with the immedi- 
ate and exclusive accommodation of local interests, and it 
was a difficult matter for many intelligent people to realize 
the full power, or appreciate the promise, which the very 
presence of the improvement now constantly suggests and 
assures. Through the development of the country, stimu- 
lated by its necessities, and strengthened by the growth of 
intelligence in all matters of practical utility, local inter- 
ests have become more intimately blended with those of a 
general character, and the scope of human action can no 
lunger be circumscribed by selfish ideas, any more than by 
immediate physical obstacles. Time and experience have 
demonstrated that mutual dependence is the true basis of 
i i dividual independence ; and no grander illustration of 
this fact exists, than is shown in the condition of both the 
internal and external commerce of the United States to- 
day, as compared with its condition twenty or thirty years 
ago. 



The old world, it is true, is still somewhat in advance of 
us in tangible wealth, because of its greater facilities and 
long established means of supplying the necessities of 
mankind, but far behind us in the very resources which 
constitute its present source of power. The annual value 
of the foreign commerce of Great Britain has now reached 
the enormous figure of $3,000,000,000, and that of France, 
which, in this respect, is the second nation in the world, is 
estimated at $1,500,000,000. The rapidity with which the 
United States have advanced, however, affords a notable 
commentary upon the spirit of the greater mass of the 
people, and the vigor which the consciousness of inex- 
haustible natural resources on all sides about them, infuses 
into their character. In 1852 our total foreign commerce 
was $422,000,000. To-day, although a depressing civil war 
has intervened, it has reached $1,200,000,000. Our rail- 
road system, the great medium of internal commerce, af- 
fords a still more striking example of rapidly augmented 
prosperity, having increased from twenty-three miles of 
track in 1830, to over sixty thousand miles at the present 
time, and according to the census statistics for the past 
year, transporting a gross value of $15,000,000,000 — an 
amount exceeding that of the combined foreign commerce 
of the whole world. 

These facts, thus briefly presented, are sufficient to show 
not merely what has been, but what almost incredible 
things we may fairly anticipate will be accomplished by 
the direct energy and enterprise of the present epoch, in 
the development of trade, and how important it is to com- 
bine general with local interests, and to adopt a liberal and 
comprehensive view in estimating the results, as well as in 
the prosecution, of every great work of internal improve- 
ment. 

By the completion of the South and North Alabama 
Bailroad, the very heart of the West will be opened to the 
State of Alabama, and the State with its vast mineral de- 
posits, and agricultural products, the chief of which con- 
stitutes one of the greatest treasures of modern civiliza- 



tion, together with Southern seaboard and Gulf connec- 
tions, opened to the West, affording opportunity for com- 
mercial intercommunication more direct, and more abso- 
lutely certain of advantageous results to Alabama, than 
has ever yet fallen to the lot of any Southern State. With 
Louisville and Montgomery as the central termini of the 
combination effected by the enterprise, each being a depot 
of supply and distribution, for sections of country on the 
one hand alive with the productive energy of an enterpris- 
ing population, and on the other teeming with the wealth 
of natural products and resources, a result will have been 
consummated which insures the rapid development of the 
latter, and a consequent advancement of the material 
wealth of the State which could scarcely have been ac- 
complished 1)}- any other means. This development must, 
however, proceed under conditions involving the prompt 
exercise of a spirit on the part of the people of the State 
as liberal and practical as that which has been exhibited 
in the completion of this great work. Prospective com- 
mercial power, based upon old ideas, will never come. 

The city of Montgomery, the southern terminus of the 
South and North Alabama Railroad, is situated practically 
about the centre of the State, at an elevation of 162 feet 
above the Gulf, and possesses all the advantages of health- 
fulness and convenience of location essential to a metropo- 
lis. Being the terminus of four other important railroads, 
branching out into the eastern, southern and southwestern 
portions of the country, it commands, by these several 
avenues of communication, every section of the Gulf 
States, which, with its position in the centre of the cotton 
region, renders it naturally the seat of the distributive in- 
land commerce of the State. That its trade will be vastly 
stimulated .by the communication which your line gives it 
with the North-west, is beyond question, as the importance 
of its relation to the commerce which will thus be devel- 
oped, is manifest by its geographical position. 

It is connected by rail with Pensacola, Florida, one of 
the finest and most capacious harbors in America, having 



a depth of water at its entrance of twenty-four feet, which 
is more than fully maintained alongside the wharves of the 
city. Pensacola must eventually become a principal port 
of entry and export in the trade between Europe and the 
Southern and Western States, as well as the chief empo- 
rium of the iron and coal trade with Cuba, Mexico, the 
Isthmus, and South America, and for the supply of all 
steamers traversing the Gulf. 

During the present year 800 foreign ships have entered 
the harbor of Pensacola, and the number will probably ex- 
ceed a thousand by the end of the year. But few of these 
vessels come otherwise than in ballast, their object being 
to procure outward-bound freights of cotton and lumber. 
The facilities now afforded by the South and North Ala- 
bama Railroad and its connections render this a channel 
of foreign importation to the West quite as expeditious, and 
twenty per cent, cheaper, than by way of New York ; and 
whenever this becomes known and fully understood, the 
shipping which now comes to Pensacola empty, must find lu- 
crative freights in this direction, as well as upon their return. 
The North German Lloyd and Liverpool steamers, that 
now pay an exhorbitant charge for lighterage over the mud 
shoals at the mouth of the Mississippi, and from $7 to $15 
per ton for coal at New Orleans, must also perceive in the 
ample depth of water at Pensacola, and its supply of cheap 
coal, together with the facility of direct and rapid commu- 
nication with all parts of the interior, points' of advantage 
too obvious and important to disregard. They must sooner 
or later discover that Pensacola is the best harbor for their 
termini on the Gulf, and the commercial relation which 
will then ensue between that port and Montgomery cannot 
be other than of the greatest interest and importance to 
the latter. 

It is scarcely necessary to refer to the advantages pos- 
sessed by Montgomery, in view of its situation and the 
ultimate development of the broad sphere of its trade, for 
every variety of manufactures into which the products of 
the State may be converted. It may, however, be re- 



marked, that being the market for 75,000 or 100,000 bales 
of cotton annually, it should for this, if no other reason, 
be the seat of an extensive cotton manufacturing industry. 
Estimates show, also, that iron can be made in Montgom- 
ery from Bed Mountain ore at 20 per cent, less cost than 
in the Lehigh region' of Pennsylvania. The question, 
therefore, in regard to the establishment of works at this 
distance from the materials required for the production of 
iron, is one mainly of the expediency of the investment of 
local capital in the development of local industries. While 
it is clearly advantageous, to economical production, for a 
manufactory of any description to be located contiguously 
to the materials it employs, facility of transportation and 
labor being equal, there can be no doubt that iron works 
established in Montgomery would always afford a larger 
profit upon the investment than is realized by many of the 
largest establishments situated in other parts of the Uni- 
ted States. At Cleveland, Ohio, for example, the blast 
furnaces in operation are using Lake Superior ores, for 
which they are paying $10.50 per ton; and at Wheeling 
the ore from the Iron Mountain of Missouri is obtained, 
at $12.60 per ton ; while Red Mountain ore can be deliv- 
ered in Montgomery at less than half the cost of the least 
of these. In fact, the cost of the ore alone, necessary to 
make a ton of iron, either at Cleveland or Wheeling, esti- 
mating its metallic value at 60 per cent., is more than the 
pig iron would cost manufactured in Montgomery. 

It will be seen by reference to the map of the Southern 
division of the road, that the line, after leaving the neigh- 
borhood of Montgomery, passes over a post-tertiary form- 
ation to within a short distance of Calera. The lands in 
this region of the State are chiefly valuable for their forests 
of yellow pine timber, though a very large area included 
in the creek bottoms comprises very excellent land for 
general agriculture. The average yield of lumber, for 
thirty or forty miles along the line, in the counties of Au- 
tauga and Baker, is variously estimated by lumbermen at 
5,000 to 8,000 feet per acre. Numerous saw mills have 



9 

been erected in this district since the completion of this 
part of the road, but such is the extraordinary demand for 
this kind of lumber, that the supply appears to be never 
adequate. 

If we consider for a moment what a vast amount of this 
material must be required to supply the demand occasioned 
by its great superiority and general application for the 
construction of houses, bridges, railroad cars, and innu- 
merable minor purposes, we will appreciate at once not 
only the enormous extent of the trade which is daily grow- 
ing out of it, but the intrinsic value of this production, 
and the inestimable importance of husbanding and pro- 
moting its growth. This species of pine is confined chiefly 
to a comparatively narrow strip of country occupying the 
eastern and southern portions of the Southern States on 
the Atlantic, and those bordering on the Gulf, and though 
seemingly extensive in area, is far from being inexhaustible 
under the ravages which a rapidly increasing consumption 
is making upon it. 

The country becomes more and more elevated as we 
proceed north from Montgomery until within fifteen miles 
of Calera, at which point an altitude of over 700 feet is 
attained. This elevation constitutes the southwestern ex- 
tremit}' of the Blue Ridge chain ; the upheaval apparently 
having expended its greatest force in Virginia, North Caro- 
lina and Georgia, terminated in producing the promontory 
of elevated land which crosses the line of the road at this 
point, and exposing the metamorphic rocks which occupy 
the middle eastern portion of the State. 

The Coosa river, which courses along the western bor- 
der of the metamorphic rocks, runs nearly parallel to, and 
a few miles east of this portion of the road. The numer- 
ous falls along its course afford the most eligible sites for 
utilizing the immense power which it is capable of supply- 
ing, while the healthfulness of this region, its proximity to 
the cotton, its easy access to railway transportation, and 
possessing a climate in every respect adapted, combine to 



10 

render it a most favorable locality for the establishment of 
cotton manufactories. 

There is no subject at the present time of more vital im- 
portance to every interest in the State, than that of in- 
creasing the production of wealth by the conversion of our 
raw materials into manufactured articles. Facts and fig- 
ures have, in this connection, from time to time been 
brought to bear upon the subject of cotton manufacturing 
in Alabama, by gentlemen of knowledge and experience in 
this department of industry, which furnish incontrovertible 
proof of its lucrativeness, and the special advantages pos- 
sessed here for investment in this field of industrial enter- 
prise. Too much, however, cannot be said to induce the 
consideration of capitalists and our legislators upon such 
questions as relate to the promotion and encouragement of 
such enterprises, nor can the fact be too forcibly and per- 
sistently impressed upon the public mind, that voith every 
pound of raw material exported from the State, the differ- 
ence, between its value in the raw state, and as a manufactured 
ai tide, is practically exported also, and supplies the capital 
which supports manufacturing communities elsewhere. It is 
a fact worthy of profound reflection, that the accumulated 
capital derived from the manufacture of cotton goods, and 
the necessities of the labor employed in it, throughout 
America and Europe, has been exported from the Southern 
States. "Any State," says an eminent writer on political 
economy, "that exports her raw material, feeds the chil- 
dren of other nations, and impoverishes her own;" and no 
truth is more fully attested than this is, in the results 
which have attended the exportation of cotton from the 
South. Of the 956 establishments for the manufacture of 
cotton goods in the United States, expending an aggregate 
of about $40,000,000 annually for wages, 131 only are situ- 
ated in the entire South, and but 13 in the State of Ala- 
bama, which previously to the war raised about one-fifth 
of the cotton consumed by the civilized world. 

Beds of kaolin, graphite, manganese, roofing slate, as- 
bestos and primary iron ores occur along the Coosa river 



11 

at no very remote distance from the railroad, but the 
actual extent and value of these deposits I have been un- 
able to ascertain. A most admirable building stone is ob- 
tained in the gneissoid granite which is exposed at several 
places near the river, and which is scarcely inferior in 
beauty to marble. It is a fine grained rock, very hard and 
white, and even in large masses presents no appearance of 
stratification, but it is nevertheless interstratified with the 
mica shists, has the same strike and clip, and is evidently a 
sedimentary rock. 

A few miles south of Calera we encounter the blue lime- 
stone of the Silurian formation, which possesses superior 
qualities for the manufacture of lime. About 150,000 bar- 
rels of lime are now made annually at Calera and in that 
vicinity, which is disposed of at all points in the South and 
Southwest, but chiefly in the markets of Montgomery, 
Mobile and New Orleans. The production is far from 
being adequate to the sale which might be readily obtained 
for it. This manufacture in Alabama is. found to compete 
successfully with the lime produced at the North, even in 
the cities of Charleston and Savannah — markets that are 
accessible to Northern establishments by cheap water car- 
riage. A nett profit of about 50 cents per barrel is made 
upon the entire production, a much larger profit, of course, 
being realized upon that disposed of to the trade of the 
Gulf States than can be obtained in the Atlantic seaboard 
cities. 

At Calera, where the line intersects the Selma, Rome and 
Dalton Railroad, we enter the zone of the great deposit of 
fibrous brown hematite which extends, at intervals, from 
the southern portion of Jones' valley, east of Tuskaloosa, 
where the bed is over 100 feet in thickness, around the 
southern border of the Cahaba coal-field near the towns of 
Montevallo, Calera and Columbiana, to the northeastern 
portion of the State. It is upon this belt of ore that the 
Roup's Valley, Briarfield, Shelby, and Oxford furnaces are 
located. The quality of the iron manufactured from this 
ore is best indicated by the market quotations of it, the 



12 

highest prices being obtained for it. The cost of its re- 
duction at the Shelby works, where charcoal is employed, 
is something over £20 per ton — the cost here being consid- 
erably augmented by the expense of hauling the charcoal 
from a distance. 

In proceeding north from Calera, for a distance of about 
fifteen miles, the line passes over a district of country gen- 
erally fertile in its character, having the Silurian limestone 
as its base. At the point now reached, the railroad enters 
the southeastern boundary of the Cahaba coal-field. This 
coal-field lies diagonally across the State from the south- 
west to the northeast, having a form somewhat resembling 
the longitudinal section of a pear, the wider end resting 
near Centerville, and the other extending into St. Clair 
county. The South and North Alabama Railroad crosses 
it about midway between these points, where its width is 
about twelve miles. Though comparatively small in area, 
comprising only about 500 square miles, it is remarkably 
rich in the extent of its deposits of coal. 

You will observe by the section, that the strata which 
form the southeastern edge of this coal-field are broken 
and fallen over, so as to abut against the uplifted edges of 
the limestone in an unconformable position. This break 
or doubling up of the strata has the appearance of having 
been produced by some lateral force, which might be at- 
tributed to the upheaval of the hypogene rocks in the 
southeast ; but it is more probable that it was caused by 
a general breaking and falling of the coal measure strata 
along the edge after it had been elevated by the upheaval 
of the underlying limestone, as the break appears to be 
uniformly confined to the immediate border. The strata 
comprising the seams of coal near the southern limits, are 
thus caused to dip in both directions, inclining first to the 
southeast and apparently under the limestone, and again 
northwest toward the synclinal which forms the basin of 
the coal-field ; the inclination of those to the south va- 
rying froni 27 to 85 degrees, and those to the north from 
15 or 20 degrees to level at the Cahaba river two miles 



13 

above, the bed of which stream approximates to the line 
of the synclinal axis. After passing the Cahaba river, the 
strata again assumes a southeastern dip, and here for the 
first time reclines conformably upon the upper Silurian 
rocks. » 

Within a distance of six miles after entering this coal- 
field the road crosses ten or twelve workable seams of coal, 
varying from 2^ feet to 4| feet in thickness. The principal 
ones are locally designated as follows, and occur in the 
order in which they are given, commencmg nearest the 
southern edge and proceeding north : 

Helena 4 ft. 

Beaver Dam 4 " 4 in. 

Vicksburg 2 " 6 " 

Buck Creek 3 " 

" No. 2 2 " 6 " 

" No. 3 2 " 6 " 

" No. 4 3 " 

Cahaba 3 " 

" No. 2 3 " 

Bed Gap 3 " 

Gould 3 " 6 " 

Brock's Gap 3 " 

As far as I have been able to observe, these seams gen- 
erally appear to preserve their continuity throughout that 
portion of the coal formation lying to the northeast of the 
line, and several of them are found to increase greatly in 
thickness as they are traced in a southwest direction along 
the Cahaba river. In the immediate vicinity of the line, 
however, those seams which occur near the edge of the 
coal bearing strata appear in most cases to be disturbed 
and "faulty" to such an extent as to render them practi- 
cally of little value. This disturbance, though, appears to 
be local, as the same seams a mile or two to the soutlnvest 
regain their regularity. That portion of the coal field near 
the line of the road has also been much injured by ill-di- 
rected operations in opening and mining the coal ; so that 



14 

any operations designed to be conducted upon modern sys- 
tems of mining would necessarily have to be located at 
points somewhat removed from the road. Such, however, 
is the topography of this region in reference to the out- 
crops of coal, that those points most eligible for future op- 
erations are quite accessible, and may be reached by a 
branch road at a very inconsiderable cost. 

The lands in the valley of the Cahaba are adapted to 
the cultivation of cereals and fruits, and those upon the 
southern slope of Shade's Mountain, which He contiguously 
and parallel to the river on the north side, are found to be 
well adapted to the culture of grapes. 

Shade's Mountain is the first elevation of any conse- 
quence encountered after leaving Calera, the country be- 
ing moderately undulating until the valley of the Cahaba 
is reached, when it rises somewhat abruptly to an elevation 
of 500 feet. The main ridge is crossed at Brock's Gap 
with a rock cutting of about 50 feet, exposing one or two 
seams of coal, which are probably the most westerly in 
this coal-field. The road now enters the elevated valley of 
Shade's creek, and crossing the bed of the valley obliquely, 
adopts the opposite slope to attain elevation, by light 
grades, for the passage of Red Mountain. The first bench 
of this mountain forms the western boundary of the Ca- 
haba coal-field, and, at this point, an obstacle in the way of 
reaching Gracie's Gap, by presenting itself as a barrier at 
the southern entrance of the depression which cuts in two 
the main ridge and forms the Gap proper. 

At this point the South and North Alabama Railroad is 
intersected by the Mobile Grand Trunk Railroad, which 
adopts Shade's Valley as its line, and the two roads pass 
through Gracie's Gap side by side. 

The count rv from Brock's Gap to Gracie's Gap, and in- 
deed that comprised in the entire valley of Shade's creek, 
is more than ordinarily interesting in the advantages which 
it presents for the location of iron works. Situated be- 
tween the iron and coal, contiguous to both, and jDossess- 
ing an ample supply of water and building material, it 



u 



15 

seeins eminently fitted for an iron manufacturing district. 
The Eed Mountain Iron Works and the Irondale furnace 
are situated in this valley. The former are located imme- 
diately upon the line of the South and North Alabama 
Railroad, and are now being rebuilt upon a liberal scale. 
The furnaces, it is estimated, will have a capacity of about 
forty tons per day when completed. 

As before remarked, the western border of the Cahaba 
coal-field rests conformably upon the upper Silurian beds, 
which comprise the elevation known as Red Mountain, and 
by far the most important feature in the State of Alabama 
in an economic view, is' here presented in the immense bed 
of fossiliferous iron ore which forms the northern escarp- 
ment of this ridge. 

This great deposit of iron ore commences with this 
range of hills fifteen or twenty miles east of Tuskaloosa, 
and crossing the railroad in Grade's Gap, extends uninter- 
ruptedly along the crest of the ridge to the extreme north- 
eastern limit of the State. The stratum is about thirty 
feet in thickness at the point intersected by the railroad, 
and I have measured it at various other points, and find 
that there is no sensible diminution in the size of the bed 
for ten or fifteen miles on either side. 

The ore comprised in the upper part of the bed is strati" 
fied and oolitic in its structure, easily split, consisting of a 
mass of flattened globules and impressions of small shells, 
and the surface of a recent fracture presents a shining met- 
allic lustre. The lithological character of the lower por- 
tions of the bed differs very materially from that of the upper, 
in being more compact, possessing a brighter lustre, and 
being entirely devoid of fossils. Although the ridge upon 
which this ore occurs is called a mountain, it is by no 
means entitled to such a designation, as its highest eleva- 
tion does not exceed 500 feet above the neighboring val- 
leys, and the frequent depressions which occur along the 
ridge, renderf the ore quite accessible, and facilitates, as 
well, the operation of mining. 

In New York, this ore is found in the upper Silurian 



16 

rocks of the Mohawk valley, but not in workable seams. 
In Hall's district of western New York, it is found in some 
localities in sufficient quantities to support furnaces, and is 
regarded as a valuable ore, but it is there subject to great 
fluctuations in quantity, and in no case exceeds two or 
three feet in thickness. In Pennsylvania, it again appears, 
but does not assume any importance until it reaches the 
middle of the State, and even here its extent is compara- 
tively insignificant. Along the Susquehannah slope of the 
mountain, where it is chiefly mined, the principal layer 
varies from 14 to 20 inches in thickness. Mr. Rogers, then 
State geologist of Pennsylvania, in his report of 1847, es- 
timates four miles outcrop fifteen inches thick and two 
hundred yards breast, to give 1,400,000 tons above the 
water level. The whole possible amount of ore in the 
Montour ridge he estimated to be somewhat over 3,500,000 
tons, and adds, that twenty furnaces were running on this 
ore at the rate of 180,000 tons per annum, which would ex- 
haust the region above the water level in twenty years, and 
advises a careful husbanding of it as " the principal wealth 
and sine qua mm or present key to the remaining riches of 
the region." 

Through Virginia this ore ranges along the base of the 
New Creek, Prop's Gap, and Back Creek mountains, west 
of the great valley, and along the edge of the synclinal 
valley of the Massanutin range, but the deposit does not 
exceed there, the proportions hi which it appears in Penn- 
sylvania. 

In Tennessee, all the furnaces vest of, and near the 
Cumberland ridge of the Alleghany mountains, use this 
ore, two or three feet, however, being the maximum thick- 
ness of the beds. Itappears, therefore, that not until it enters 
Alabama does it attain to anything approaching in magni- 
tude the proportions in which it is found exposed in this 
region ; and what constitutes a most interesting and im- 
portant feature in relation to this deposit of ore in Ala- 
bama, is, its proximity to the other materials necessary for 
its reduction. Both the coal and limestone lie parallel to 



17 

it, and separated by a few miles, throughout its entire length. 
It would be impossible to associate the materials in a more 
perfect manner than nature has done. 

It will convey some idea of the extent of the deposit to 
state that a fair estimate shows that there are 15,000,000 
tons of ore to each mile along the mountain, lying above 
the drainage level, and there are at least thirty miles of 
the mountain that will be tributary to the South and North 
Alabama Railroad. 

The upper portion of the bed, which is not the richest 
part, was alone worked in the Red Mt. Works, and afforded 
a practical yield of over 50 per cent, of iron. "With char- 
coal, cold blast, it produces a No. 1 grey iron of a coarse 
crystalline fracture, very strong, and finely adapted to the 
manufacture of guns, car wheels and all casting requiring 
great strength of cohesion. Its suitability for the manu- 
facture of steel, is a subject which to decide, requires, I 
think, a more thorough investigation than has yet been 
given it. The presence of phosphorus in the ore is such, 
it is thought, as may impair, if not destroy completely its 
value in this respect. Whether this opinion is entirely 
correct or not, I cannot undertake to say at present. My 
impression is, however, that it will at least be found sub- 
ject to modification when the actual quantity of phospho- 
rus contained in the lower, as well as in the upper portions 
of the bed is known. Heretofore, the only published 
analyses of this ore apply to the upper portion of the bed 
which is highly fossiliferous, while the lower part of the 
seam, which is not generally exposed, has a compact struc- 
ture, and is entirely free from organic remains. An analy- 
sis of a specimen of this part of the ore was made recently 
by Mr. A. W. McKinsey of Philadelphia, which gave an 
inappreciable trace of phosporic acid, which would seem 
to indicate, that a part of the bed at least, would be 
adapted to the manufacture of steel, notwithstanding the 
minute quantity of phosphorus required to exclude it. 

In the manufacture of steel by the Bessemer process, 
2 



18 

which has now superseded all others, the quantity of either 
sulphur or phosporusin the iron is limited to 0.05 per cent., 
and phosphorus above all other objectionable ingredients, 
constitute: the most formidable. On this account, the great 
mass of the pig iron produced in this country and in Eu- 
rope, is found to be unfit for conversion into steel by this 
process. In England, the iron of Weardale, Forest of 
Dean, North Staffordshire and the great Cleveland district, 
contains phosphorus largely exceeding the required limit, 
which confines the selection of iron for this process to 
about one-fifth of the production in England ; and it is 
estimated that only about 1,000,000 out of over 8,000,000 
tons of iron produced in Europe, is suitable for the Bes- 
semer process. This process being by far the most direct, 
has so greatly cheapened the operations that, in England 
alone, it has increased the production of steel to fifteen 
times the amount produced before the introduction of this 
method ; the extent of the production appearing to be 
limited only by the quantity from which proper material 
can be drawn. It is therefore scarcely probable, with the 
extensive and almost general application of steel in lieu of 
iron, and the advancement which is being made in metal- 
lurgical science, that some process will not sooner or later 
be devised to neutralize completely the effect of phosphorus 
in iron ; so palpably great is the importance of an unlimited 
supply of steel making material. 

A mile or two north of Grade's Gap, brings us to the 
intersection of the South and North Alabama Railroad 
with the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, the seat of 
the new and flourishing town of Birmingham. The sud- 
den creation of cities and towns is peculiar to American 
progress. The remarkable capacity which we seem to pos- 
sess in this respect is of world-wide celebrity. So rapid 
indeed has been the development of great commercial cen- 
tres in the United States during the last quarter of a 
century, that geographers find it difficult to keep apace 
with it. We are constantly of late years encountering the 
name of some new town or city, no where to L be found on 



19 

the latest editions of our maps, which has suddenly sprung 
into existence, or grown into commercial importance by 
some adventitious circumstance. Such a place is this 
thriving little town. Situated in the centre of a beautiful 
and fertile valley, eight or ten miles wide, and extending 
thirty or forty miles on either side, with inexhaustible de- 
posits of iron and coal within a few miles, and the pro- 
jected centre of quite an extensive railroad system, it 
promises to be, at some future day, a.provincial town of no 
inconsiderable importance. The mineral resources of this 
region are becoming so attractive to the chief cities in the 
adjoining States, that lines are stretching out from various 
quarters, having their termini here, and speculation points 
to it as a future centre of distribution, not only of the pro- 
ducts of the mines, but of western supplies in all directions. 
Hence its rapid growth. It owes its existence chiefly to 
the influence of the South and North Alabama Railroad, 
which must also form the most potent impulse to its future 
progress. It is obvious also, that with the growth of Bir- 
mingham other new towns will spring up along the line of 
your road, and the local demand for agricultural products, 
and the facility of transportation which now exists, will 
stimulate the development of the agricultural resources of 
the adjacent country, of which this beautiful valley, em- 
braces so rich and extensive a portion. 

This valley is elevated about 600 feet above the level of 
the sea, and was formed by an upheaval of the Silurian 
rocks, running parallel to, and probably occurring cotem- 
poraneously with that which exposed the hypogene rocks 
towards the southeast. The coal formation which at this 
period appears to have extended in an unbroken area over 
the entire north half of the State, west of the Coosa river, 
was divided by the convulsion, the upheaval along this 
valley forming the principal anticlinal which separates the 
Warrior coal-field from the Cahaba, and other minor coal- 
fields in the south and east. The debris which resulted 
from the rupture, partly remains in the form of a range of 
hills running clown the middle of the valley, the upper end 



20 

of which contains large deposits of brown hematite ore. 
The uplifted strata, including the fossil ore forming Red 
mountain on the south, and that of the coal measures, the 
sandstone ridge which encloses the valley on the north, 
and also defines the eastern limit of the Warrior coal-field. 
Some fine beds of variegated marble outcrop along the slope 
of Red mountain, which will be valuable for the manufac- 
ture of mantles, vases, and ornamental architectural work. 
It is finely grained and susceptible of receiving a high 
polish. A bed of sulphate of barytes is found a mile or 
two north of Birmingham, hand specimens of which appear 
to be quite pure. Fragments of lead ore are found scat- 
tered promiscuously through this country, but chiefly con- 
tiguous to Indian mounds which would indicate it to be of 
Indian origin, though it might be referred to ruins of veins 
of this ore, that are found in these rocks. Numerous In- 
dian legends are extant in this valley about the existence 
of lead mines, but they always have some obscure points, 
or direct the seeker into impossible places to search for this 
material, so that they are entirely unworthy of any confi- 
dence. 

Upon leaving the valley and entering the border of the War- 
rior coal-field, we find, that the broken and deranged posi- 
tion of the strata before alluded to, as occuring on the edge 
of the Cahaba coal-field, presents itself here also, in a curi- 
ously coincident manner, attended with the same crushed 
and doubled appearance of the strata. 

Immediately upon entering the limits of the Warrior 
coal-field, we encounter the outcrops of coal, seams of 
which are found exposed in the cuts along the line of the 
road, and in the beds of the adjacent streams. Within a 
distance of ten miles after entering this coal-field, some 
eight or ten seams of coal are exposed, varying froin two 
to six feet in thickness, the positions of which are shown 
upon the accompanying map and section. Along this part 
of the line, it will be observed, that the course of the railroad 
is but slightly oblique to the strike of the strata ; so that 
the whole number of seams included in the distance above 



21 

given in the direction of the railroad, are within a com- 
paratively short distance of each other, upon a line at 
right angles to it. Specimens taken from several of the 
most important of these seams were sent to Mr. D. J. Mor- 
rell, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for analysis, and he reports 
them all suitable for smelting iron. 

At Mr. James W. Vann's, ten miles above Birininghani, 
two very fine seams, one of six feet and the other of four 
feet thickness, outcrop immediately upon the line of the 
road. These seams of coal are accompanied by a seam of 
carbonate of iron varying fi-om 15 to 24 inches in thick- 
ness, of which the following is an analysis : 

Volatile and organic matter 34.62 

Insoluble matter 4.73 

Oxide of iron 54.08 

Metallic iron 46.66 per cent. 

It is from this kind of ore that a very large proportion 
of the iron manufactured in Great Britain is produced ; 
the celebrated Scotch pig being made from it. The ore is 
found also to facilitate the reduction of the more refrac- 
tory ores by admixture with them in the process of smelt- 
ing, and will in this manner prove valuable in working the 
neighboring red and brown hematites. The extent of this 
ore is yet imperfectly known, but enough has been ascer- 
tained to establish the fact that it is extensively developed 
in the "Warrior coal-field along the line of the road, though 
rarely exceeding two feet in thickness. The thickest seam 
of this ore found in the west of Scotland is the Airdrie 
mine, which is 16 inches thick. It is, however, profitably 
worked in much thinner seams even than this. The Bell- 
side, Calderbank and Kennelburn black band, being only 
six inches in thickness. In North Staffordshire, it is found 
in beds from four to nine feet thick, and is calcined and 
transported in large quantities to the furnaces in the south- 
ern portion of that district. In South Wales, it is much 
less extensive and regular in its occurrence, being found 
only in small beds and confined chiefly to the western part 
of the coal district. 



22 

It is proper to add in connection with this class of ore, 
that the deposits are often very deceptive as to their extent 
and value, and it is generally difficult to determine cor- 
rectly in either of these particulars by surface exposures. 
A thorough exploration of the bed is essential to conclu- 
sively establishing its actual character, as its composition 
not unfrequently changes to bituminous or argillaceous 
shale, or runs into their seams of coal, or on the other 
hand may improve in quantity and quality. 

The strata a short distance above Vaim's appear to have 
been subjected to more than ordinary disturbance. For a 
space of two hundred yards along that part of the line 
immediately south of the first crossing of Cunningham 
creek, they are distorted, and thrown into the most indis- 
criminate disorder, but directly beyond this space, near 
the creek, they relapse into nearly a level and undisturbed 
position. The inclination which near the border of the 
coal-field was about 20 degrees is reduced to about 10 de- 
gress at Vann's and at this point it subsides suddenly to 
between one and two degrees. For a distance of three or 
four miles along the line of Cunningham creek, which fre- 
quently intersects that of the railroad, the stream is con- 
fined by the precipitous nature of this portion of the valley 
to a narrow channel, which in many cases contains, for a 
considerable length, too much water to admit of an exam- 
ination of its bed. Below Hagood's, however, the valley 
widens, and the bed of the stream becomes more frequently 
exposed, and from this point to its junction with Turkey 
creek, a number of coal outcrops appear in it. The nun> 
berless creeks and branches by which this region is watered, 
greatly facilitates an examination of its structure, as the 
strata is sufficiently inclined to present their edges to the 
denuding force of the water, which has cut through 
them and exposed their composition ; and there is scarcely 
a stream flowing in the direction of the Warrior river that 
does not expose one or more seams of coal. 

The surface of the country, which, from the border of 
the coal-field to this point, is hilly, and in some cases, rug- 



23 

ged, now becomes slightly undulating, with extensive table 
lands and rich valley bottoms along the borders of the 
larger streams, until we reach the Locust fork of the War- 
rior river. The banks of this beautiful stream, adja- 
cent to the crossing of the railroad, are abrupt, and 
descend rapidly from the table land on either side to 
the edge of the water. A few hundred yards east of the 
line, a seam of coal about three and a half feet thick 
crosses diagonally the bed of the river. The dip of the 
strata is so slight that the denudation of the overlying ledge 
of sandstone has laid bare the bed for a considerable dis- 
tance along the bottom of the stream. 

Quite an extensive area of coal existed, at one time, in 
the bed of the river at various points, which led to the 
adoption by Mr. Hanfiy, some years ago, of a somewhat 
novel and ingenious system of mining. During the dry 
season of the year, when the depth of the water is but a few 
feet, men were employed to dislodge the coal in large blocks, 
with wedges and crow bars, and then with the aid of a float- 
ing derrick, it was lifted into flat-boats constructed to trans- 
port it down the river to Mobile, during the high stages of 
the river. 

The Locust fork occupies the basin of that part of the 
coal-field which is drained by its waters, and such is the 
direction of the strike and inclination of the strata rela- 
tively to the line of the railroad, that in this locality, only 
the most remote of those seams of coal which have been 
mentioned, are without the range of shaft mining at a 
moderate depth, while several, including the one outcrop- 
ing above the bridge, can be reached from the grade of the 
road, with a shaft of one or two hundred feet in depth. 

After crossing the Locust fork of the Warrior river, the 
line of the road is located upon an extensive table land, 
nearly level, reaching eight or ten miles in a northerly di- 
rection, where it terminates in an abrupt descent into the 
valley of Hoglan's creek. The com^ of the railroad 
deflects from this direction, and leaving the table along 
its western border, follows the summit of a spur which 



24 

connects it with the dividing ridge between the Locust 
and Mulberry forks, and crosses to the eastern slope of 
the latter. The line then follows this slope of the 
mountain, until it reaches Keid's Gap, through which it 
passes to the head of Murphy's creek valley. From the 
Warrior to Reid's Gap, there is scarcely any perceptible 
deviation from a level in the position of the strata, and 
consequently the exposures of the underlying coal are few. 
The country, however, is known to be underlaid with sev- 
eral very valuable seams of coal, and a deposit of black 
band ore which will probably develop itself as an import- 
ant feature. I would urgently recommend that a more 
thorough examination of this region be instituted by the 
application of boring apparaUis, in eligible localities for 
obtaining sections of the series of strata comprised in the 
middle and upper group of the coal measures. 

After passing Reid's Gap, I find that the carboniferous 
limestone has to be pushed up by an upheaval parallel to that 
of Jones' valley, elevating but slightly the coal strata on the 
sou tli, but forming a high and precipitous range of moun- 
tains on the north-west. The exposure of the limestone is 
confined to the immediate vicinity of Murphy's creek and 
its branches, which head near the gap, while the coal meas- 
sures to the south-west, in the direction of the upheaval, 
remain undisturbed. The line of the road now follows 
the valley of Murphy's creek, along the strike of the rocks, 
to its junction with Mill creek, and then up Dry creek, 
passing within a few hundred feet of the celebrated Blount 
Springs. The country in the neighborhood of Blount 
Springs is exceedingly picturesque, possessing scenery of 
almost every variety, from a wide-spreading valley to the 
most precipitous mountains. The views are surpassingly 
beautiful from all of the more prominent elevations adja- 
cent, and particularly so from Duffie's mountain, a rugged 
steep near by, the mural face of which, is itself a feature 
of more than ordinary grandeur in the picture which is 
presented in approaching the springs from the south. 

The springs, which have long been noted for their niedi- 



25 

cinal qualities, issue from a small patch of silurian shale, 
which has been forced np through the mountain limestone, 
and comprise several varieties of water, situated within a 
few feet of each other. The want of convenient access to 
them, or rather the advantage in this respect which others 
less meritorious, have possessed, has for many years de- 
prived them of the patronage which they appear to deserve. 
Five miles above Blount Springs, the railroad passes 
through Copperas Gap, leaving the limestone and again 
entering the coal measures of the Mulberry fork of the 
Warrior river, the strata dipping at an angle of 15 or 20 
degrees, and toward the north-west. As we approach the 
river, which runs along the base of the western slope of 
the mountain just passed, the inclination of the strata 
again diminishes rapidly to nearly a level position, which 
it maintains to Sand mountain, which forms the northern 
boundary of this rich and extensive coal-field. That this 
portion of the Warrior coal-field also abounds in coal is 
unquestionable, as it appears more or less, in all of the 
streams, but the horizontal position of the strata prevents 
any exposures, except where the streams have cut through 
them to a considerable depth. There is a marked differ- 
ence, also, in the character of the coal in this region to 
that further south, hi being more compact, cleaner and 
lustrous, and being less disposed to disintegrate by hand- 
ling. Three or four seams, varying from thirty inches to 
five feet, bearing these characteristics, have come under 
my observation in this region, the locations of which are 
indicated upon the accompanying map. The nature of the 
land for agricultural purposes is good, and under the adop- 
tion of improved systems of cultivation, will be found quite 
capable of supporting a large population. From Sand 
Mt. to Decatur, a distance of twenty miles, the line passes 
over the fertile valley of the Tennessee river, the country 
being composed of carboniferous limestone in horizontal 
beds. The summits of the more prominent hills are capped 
with like horizontal layers of the sandstone of the coal 
measures, not unfrequently interstratified with thin seams 



26 

of coal ; showing that the valley is one entirely of denu- 
dation. 

In glancing the eye over the accompanying section which 
presents all the prominent features of the structure of the 
country, we cannot fail to observe with what a wonderful 
sagacity it has been formed, and arranged to meet the 
requirements of man, and facilitate the development of 
its resources. A wide spread sandstone plain has been 
broken asunder, and its underlying treasures of iron and 
coal, the world's greatest source of wealth, have been brought 
to light, that otherwise would never have been known to 
exist, and in their midst rich valleys and beautiful streams, 
which, all combined, in plainest language, 

" Assert eternal Providence, 
And justify the ways of God to man - '' 

DONATED LANDS. 

The total area of the lands selected by the company 
under the donation by Congress, is 535,091 acres. Of this 
amount, about 50,000 acres are situated along the line 
between Montgomery and Calera and the remainder be- 
tween Calera and Decatur ; the latter, including a very 
large proportion of the coal and iron deposits described. 
The locations of the most important of these deposits, 
relatively to the company's lands, are best seen by 
reference to the accompanying maps, and they will 
be still more minutely indicated upon the land plats, 
which are to form a part of the records of the land depart- 
ment of the company, and which will serve as an index to 
the mineral value of each separate tract. It will be suffi- 
cient, however, to state at present, that the amount of coal 
contained in those lands of the company which lie in im- 
mediate proximity to the road, may be practically regarded 
as inexhaustible. The extent of the iron deposits com- 
prised in the company's land, though of course by no 
means so vast as that of the coal, is, nevertheless, of great 
extent and value. For the purposes of agriculture, a very 
large proportion is well adapted, and the facility which is 



27 

now afforded by the railroad for transportation, must en- 
hance their value very greatly in this respect. They are 
not generally as productive as some of the western lands 
are represented to be, but they are highly susceptible of 
improvement, and they have the advantage of a far less 
rigorous climate. The country has been settled also, for 
more than fifty years, and the population therefore, is of 
that character which insures the steady growth of the 
mora], social and educational advantages which are now 
enjoyed to a degree unknown in the far west. The indus- 
try of the State has heretofore been almost exclusively 
agricultural, and nearly the entire capital and labor have 
been employed in the culture of cotton. Under the slave 
system, this has been in a great measure concentrated in 
the southern portion of the State, as being best adapted 
to the cultivation of that staple, and for the climate of 
which the negro constitution was best fitted. The middle 
and northern portions of the State, which are eminently 
suited, both in soil and climate, for the cultivation of cereals 
and fruit, and for raising cattle r have, therefore, been com- 
paratively neglected. The meagreness of the negro element 
in the population of this part of the State is also in con- 
sequence of the direction given to the different industries, 
as it were, by nature. A great change in the industrial 
character of the State is now about to take place. A large 
manufacturing community is about to spring up here, and 
with it a demand for the very products which this region 
is most capable of producing. The effect is patent, and 
requires no elaborate argument to enforce or elucidate. 

The influence which railroads have everywhere had in 
augmenting the value of landed property, will operate here 
with all the force that it manifests in other parts of the 
country, and has an important bearing upon the prospec- 
tive value of this property of the company. In Georgia, 
lands which, in 1846, sold for ten to fifty cents an acre, 
commanded three years later, when the Chattanooga Rail- 
road was completed, from ten to twenty dollars. On the 
line of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, lands, for which no 



28 

sale could be obtained since the first settlement of the 
country, were at once brought into market at from three 
to ten dollars per acre by the construction of the road. 
The value of pine lands was found to increase at the rate 
of 500 to 5,000 per cent. In Ohio, when there were only 
eighty-three miles of railroad, the taxable property amounted 
to $136,000,000, and when in 1870, three thousand four 
hundred miles had been constructed, the assessed value of 
property was $1,000,000,000, excluding the real estate be- 
longing to railroad companies. In Indiana, the construc- 
tion of eighteen hundred miles of railroad increased prop- 
erty valuation $116,000,000. In Georgia, six hundred and 
nine miles of railroad augmented the property valuation 
$248,000,000 and thirteen hundred and seventy miles $600,- 
000,000. Such examples might be multiplied ad infinitum, 
but this influence is generally known and understood. In- 
deed, it has become now a simple matter of calculation to 
ascertain the advance in value that land will attain by the 
advantage of railroad transportation. Statistics in refer- 
ence to the increase of valuation due to this cause have 
so accumulated, and appear generally so uniform under 
like conditions, that the proportional increase effected by 
the construction of a railroad, may be reduced to a sim- 
ple formula. It is customary, however, in making this 
a matter of calculation, to assume the weight of the 
marketable productions per acre, and the cost per mile to 
haul it, and compare this cost with that of the transporta- 
tion by railroad. The difference, then, is the increased 
value of the productions per acre, which establishes the 
increase of value to the lands. 

In this manner, the average cost of hauling upon ordi- 
nary roads, is ascertained to be about seven times that 
upon railroads. The effect of railroads upon lands through 
which they pass, is, therefore, practically to draw them 
within one-seventh of their actual distance from market, 
and increase the value in that proportion. 

Mr. Poor, in his manual upon railroads for 1870-71, 
states " that every railroad constructed, adds five times its 



29 

cost to the aggregate value of the property of the country." 
This is doubtless a fair estimate for agricultural districts ; 
but I conceive it to be very much below the effect of open- 
ing up to development such a field of mineral wealth, as 
that through which the South and North Alabama Rail- 
road passes. Improvements in railroads and canals, built 
expressly for the anthracite coal trade in Pennsylvania, 
foot up to no less than four hundred millions of dollars, and 
a force of 52,227 men is employed in the mines, represent- 
ing a population of about 200,000. 

To approximate more nearly the influence of your road 
in enhancing the value of property along its line, in- 
volves a consideration of the facts which bear upon the 
question of the prospective demand upon its resources, its 
capacity to supply it, and the advantages which it pos- 
sesses for so doing. In proceeding to a discussion of these 
questions, it is proper to premise by directing attention to 
the geographical position of the mineral region of Alabama, 
and recalling to mind the exceptional feature embraced 
in it, of a congregation of all the materials essential to an 
inimitable and varied manufacturing industry, at the base 
of which, rests an inexhaustible supply of coal, under the 
most favorable conditions for economical mining. 

" A race is going on," said Mr. Gladstone, in a speech 
before the House of Commons, "between the nations of 
the earth in industry and enterprise, and no doubt can 
exist on the question which nation is at this moment fore- 
most in the race. The people of the United Kingdom are 
by far the foremost. * * * * We have undoubtely got 
the start in the race, and it behooves us to inquire what 
special cause has given it to us. * * * * The chief cause 
is the possession of our mineral treasures, the fact not mere- 
ly the possession of coal, but the possession of vast stores of 
coal, under such circumstances, that we can raise it to the 
surface at a lower price than any other countiy in the 
world. I think it is clear, that at whatever time we may 
cease to be able to raise coal at a lower price than any 



30 

other countries, our relative position towards other nations 
must be seriously injured." 

In a subsequent debate, Mr. Vivian said, " It is utterly 
impossible to exaggerate the enormous importance of this 
question. The greatness and prosperity of England rests 
upon her manufactures, and her manufacturers upon her 
coal." 

To the same effect, Mr. Liddell remarked, " It is a mere 
truism, to say that the manufacturing supremacy of this 
country depends upon our retaining a cheap supply of 
coal." 

This observation of Mr. Liddell is illustrated more thor- 
oughly than elsewhere in this country, perhaps, in the com- 
parison of the progress of the manufacturing industry 
between the two great manufacturing towns of Fall River 
and Lowell, Massachusetts. 

The water power of New England is not only subject to 
the great drawbacks of ice, droughts and freshets, but this 
source of power is rapidly diminishing. This is attributed 
to clearing of forests, and cultivation which drains the 
swamps and low grounds, that originally formed natural 
reservoirs ; and to such an extent has this reduction pro- 
ceeded, that it is now estimated that the power of valua- 
ble mill privileges has depreciated no less than forty per 
cent. Lowell and Fall River, were both located with ref- 
erence to a supply of water power, and so far as cotton 
spinning is concerned, which is their chief industry, Lowell 
was in 1865 largely in advance, returning 385,412 spindles, 
while Fall River returned but 241,218. Shortly after Fall 
River exhausted her water power, and more recently, Low- 
ell has done the same. Fall River was situated on the 
southern seaboard, while Lowell was twenty miles by rail 
removed from tide water. The mills at Fall River, now 
contain 1,017,114 spindles, while Lowell numbers but 
570,586. The essential point in the more rapid develop- 
ment of the former, seems to have been the superior 
facility which it possessed over the latter, for obtain- 
ing coal. Already engines whose aggregate horse pow- 



31 

er exceeds 5,000, have been introduced as auxiliaries in the 
mills of that city, and a large supply of coal is necessarily 
required to generate steam for this additional power, and 
in the various processes of manufacture. But the demand 
which this department of industry makes upon the supply 
of coal, is insignificant compared with that required for the 
production of iron. 

To afford some idea of the consumption of coal in the 
manufacture of iron, it may be interesting to state, that 
the total number of blast furnaces in Great Britain is 920, 
of which only five are charcoal furnaces. The amount of 
coal raised from the mines of that country last year is es- 
timated at 120,000,000 tons, and the amount of iron pro- 
duced was 6,300,000 tons. This iron required for its reduc- 
tion and conversion into bar iron and other forms of man- 
ufactured articles, about five tons of coal to the ton of 
iron, or 31,500,000 tons— over one-fourth of the vast pro- 
duction of the coal mines of that country, and within two 
and a half millions of the entire production of coal in the 
United States. 

In 1818, England produced 300,000 tons of iron. In 
1840, the United States produced 347,000 tons. In 1847, 
England produced 1,999,508 tons, which is about the same 
as the present production of this country. It would ap- 
pear, therefore, that England has the start of the United 
States in making iron of about twenty-five years, which 
has been maintained since the earliest records of that in- 
dustry. It is fair to surmise, therefore, that the production 
in the United States before the end of the present century 
will exceed the present production of England, if the ratio 
of increase up to the present time, is maintained. Of this, 
there is not only every probability, but there exists the 
most conclusive evidence. 

The consumption of iron in the United States in 1871, 
was 2,650,000 tons, exceeding the home production by 
nearly one-third, and amounting to nearly one-half of the 
production of Great Britain. The unprecedented demand 
existing at the present time for iron, is a subject of com- 



32 

ment throughout the civilized world. The most recent 
reviews and discussions of the subject, show that the de- 
mand for iron has increased much faster than the produc- 
tion. The substitution of iron for wood, in the construc- 
tion of ships especially, has greatly increased its consump- 
tion, and the wonderful growth of the railroad system in 
the United States, would alone furnish sufficient argument 
and incentive for its production upon a far greater scale of 
magnitude than exists at the present time. But we must 
take the subject in all its bearings, and appreciate its im- 
portance from the cumulative testimony which the whole 
world submits. It has been well said that railroads are 
modern missionaries. The missionary ordinarily recog- 
nized by moral economists, preaches to the heathen and 
sets forth the benefits of some peculiar religious creed, or 
perhaps the general advantages of Christianity and civili- 
zation. Yet the heathen often meets these arguments with 
the beauties of his own faith, and the benefits of his own 
moral and social system. But let a railroad train pass 
through his territory at the rate of thirty or forty miles an 
hour, and the argument is unanswerable. Railroads are 
breaking down the old and most formidable barriers of 
civilization, when every other influence fails. In our own 
country, they have extended civilization far out on the 
western prairies. In India, idol-worship is becoming ex- 
tinct in proportion as railroads permeate the country, and 
the wealth of that country is being developed more and 
more each year through their agency. Japan is being 
aroused to the importance of this great means of develp- 
ment, and within the past few months, has celebrated its 
first grand achievement, the completion of a railroad from 
Yeddo to Yokahoma. China in time must yield to the ad- 
vancing tendency of the age, and the primitive styles of 
travel there, must be replaced by railroads. Russia for 
some years past, has been moving actively in the matter, 
and has become thoroughly awakened to the necessity of 
railroads, to rescue portions of the empire from its semi- 
barbarous condition. But lately the Russian government 



33 

negotiated a railroad loan in London of 17,000,000 pounds 
sterling, and upon the strength of this loan orders were 
placed with English mills for nearly 200,000 tons of rails. 
It is this great demand from Russia, in connection with 
causes of subordinate magnitude, that has stimulated the 
demand for iron during the present year in England, and 
enforced the general advance which has so suddenly en- 
livened the market. The South American States, includ- 
ing the Empire of Brazil, have also made notable progress 
in the construction of railroads. Costa Rico, Honduras 
and Mexico, have important lines already in course of con- 
struction, while Peru and Chili are also pefecting exten- 
sive systems of railroads, which will require the expendi- 
ture of a hundred million of dollars to complete, and the 
United States is the most natural direction for them to 
look for supplies. The requirements of Russia, India, 
Egypt, Japan and Australia with the domestic consump- 
tion, will soon ' absorb the entire furnace capacity of all ■ 
Europe. The demand of this hemisphere, at least, must 
sooner or later be met by us. 

Coming back to the United States, we find that each 
year the railroad mileage is increasing rapidly to accom- 
modate the growing traffic, laying the basis for an increased 
demand, not only for new roads, but for the replenishment 
of old ones, both in the matter of rails and rolling stock. 
When we realize the fact, that in 1851, the earnings of all 
the railroads in the United States were $1 62 per head of 
population, and in 1871, over $11 50 ; is it any wonder 
that railroad building is being increased so rapidly ? It 
must not be imagined either, that the impetus in railway 
construction at this time is temporary. If the ratio of 
mileage in the States, exclusive of territories, in proportion 
to their area, was equal to that of Ohio, it would require 
200,000 instead of 60,000 miles of railroad ; and if the 
construction of railroads continues, as there seems every 
probability of its doing, at the rate with which it has pro- 
gressed for the last ten years, this aggregate will be at- 
tained in twenty years from the present time. 



34 

A fair estimate of the amount of iron that will be con- 
sumed during the present year, would be twenty per cent, 
over that of 1871, or about 3,000,000 tons. The 60,382 miles 
of railroad in operation at the commencement of the year, 
will require not less than 500,000 tons for repairs, and the 
new roads 1,000,000 tons, making 1,500,000 tons for rail- 
roads alone. The amount of railroad iron consumed in 
1871 was 1,294,386 tons ; of this amount, there were manu- 
factured in this country 722,000 tons, the balance of 572,- 
386, were imported. England alone, supplying 511,059 
tons, and including other forms of iron, 826,088 tons, or 
about one-third of our total consumption of iron during 
the preceding year. 

Had this amount of iron been made here, it would have 
given employment to 75,000 men and required 3,000,000 
tons of coal for its production. Would not the country be 
more greatly benefited by importing the labor instead of the 
iron ? It is an absolute disgrace to the country that so 
large a portion of this manufacture should come from 
abroad, and the immense profit now realized in this manu- 
facture, renders still more unwarrantable such a want of 
enterprise. The present price of pig iron, which was $35 
last year, is $50 and $55 per ton. That this advance is a 
natural and healthy one, admits, I think, of no question, 
and is the legitimate consequence of the productive power 
being inadequate to supply the demand. It is a fallacy to 
base a supposition to the contrary upon the broad assump- 
tion, that furnaces already constructed possess a capacity 
equal to the supply needed. Then* capacity is exactly 
what they do produce, and not what they are supposed to 
be capable of producing. 

There are reported in the United States at the present 
time, 700 blast furnaces, the number being largely swelled 
by including many of primitive form and small capacity 
that belong to a different era in iron manufacture. In 
1860, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, "Wisconsin and 
Kentucky had seventy-six blast furnaces, that produced 
85,273 tons. In 1870, three new works alone produced 



35 

200,000 tons. The following is estimated to be the present 
productive capacity of the principal iron regions of the 
United States : 

TONS. 

Lehigh region, Pennsylvania 378,000 

Schuylkill " " 160,000 

Pittsburgh, " 120,000 

Shenango Valley, " 190,000 

Ohio 200,000 

Michigan 60,000 

Wisconsin 70,000 

Missouri 130,000 

Illinois 60,000 

1,368,000 

An additional furnace capacity of about 600,000 tons is 
distributed in New York, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Virginia and Alabama. 

In the preceding year, the amount of iron produced in 
this country was about 1,900,000 tons, consisting of 875,- 
000 tons of anthracite iron, 650,000 tons of bituminous coal 
and coke iron, and 375,000 tons of charcoal iron, and this 
was less than the amount consumed in various forms by 
nearly a million of tons. If there is one thing made more 
apparent than another by an investigation of this subject, 
it is that the manufacturers of bar iron must have their 
own furnaces ; for while they have been finding it difficult, 
and in some instances, impossible to fulfil their contracts, 
furnace owners ivill make thirty or forty millions of dollars 
out of the advance of $15 or $20 per ton on tlte 2,000,000 tons 
which it is estimated will be produced in tlte United States 
this year. 

The struggle for pig iron by the various mills through- 
out the country, amounts almost to a panic, and there 
seems to be no likelihood of its subsiding. The Miners 
Journal savs : 

" Everything shows an insufficiency of iron, pig and 
rolled, forge and Bessemer alike, to satisfy the wants of 



36 

the civilized world. Nor will the growth of the manufac- 
ture for a long time keep pace with the ever-enlarging 
demands made upon it. Fluctuations in the annual pro- 
duct of this or that iron region or country does not mate- 
rially alter the general situation. Sweden and Norway 
may not (as reported) produce more than half then usual 
quota. Old furnaces are going into blast and new furnaces 
building elsewhere. But it is easier to deplete the iron 
market when iron is low, than to refill the yards when a 
scarcity has run up iron to prices which both collect capi- 
tal at old works and invite its investment in new ones. 

" It takes time to establish iron works ; time to get ore 
mines into working order ; time to construct mill machin- 
ery; time to train skilled hands at the Bessemer retort. 
Meanwhile new railway projects are set on foot every week. 
Russia anticipates her usual spring orders in England by 
sending them four months in advance. 

" The fact is, when the age makes a great forward move- 
ment of any kind, it happens as with the march of an army, 
whatever is wanted is wanted in unusual quantities and at 
once, and therefore must be paid for at famine rates. 
Americans are building so many railways, bridges, depots, 
and so much rolling stock, that they must not only pay the 
highest price, but must immediately lay out a great deal 
more of the money on mills, furnaces and mining, to pro- 
vide materials. As the same history is recording itself 
abroad, and even distant parts like Japan and China are 
making their appearance on the scene of action, each na- 
tion will continue to be strained to its utmost strength to 
do its own work. It is not merely that the London iron 
market rules that of Philadelphia, but when England is 
overtasked America must help herself. 

" We have no doubt that the present high price of iron 
will continue to rule, and we hope it will ; for nothing short 
of the sight of both steady and uncommonly large profits 
made in the manufactures of iron will turn our capitalists 
from gold, stock and distant wild-cat mining speculations, 
to take the good old path of investment in substantial 



37 

minerals, coal mines and iron works nearer home, by which 
a perpetual benefit to all classes of society is sure to be 
secured." 

The productive power of England is at its zenith, while 
that of the United States is just rising above the horizon. 
As civilization extends, the demand for this product in- 
creases. The world must be supplied, and the resources 
which England possesses to meet this growing demand, 
sinks into insignificance when compared with that of this 
country. The question of competition between the two 
countries is now entirely one of labor. »• It will soon be 
one of comparative resources. Not from a dimunition of 
the cost of labor, but from an equalization in the facility 
of production may we expect that the productive capacity 
of this country will be placed upon the same footing with 
England, and I am but expressing the opinion of the most 
experienced and far seeing men of the country, when I 
assert the belief that in the supply of this material, it is 
the destiny of Alabama to inaugurate the era of our suc- 
cessful competition with the world. To support this asser- 
tion, I do not think I can submit more competent testimony 
than will be found in the following remarks made by Abram 
S. Hewitt, Esq., at a meeting of the Polytechnic Associa- 
tion of the American Institute held less than a year ago : 

"The region in Alabama to which our attention has been 
called to-night is unquestionably the most interesting re- 
gion in the United States, with reference to the interests 
of iron manufacture in this country. It is in fact the only 
place upon the American continent where it is possible to 
make iron in competition with the cheap iron of England, 
measured noi by the wages paid, but by the number of 
days' labor which enter into its production. The cheapest 
place until now, on the globe, for manufacturing iron, is 
the Cleveland region in Yorkshire, England. The iron 
produced a'om a fossiliferous ore, containing phosphorus, 
making it cold-short, costs there about 32 English shillings 
on the average per ton, which represents about ten (10) 

** ■ , •- ■• . . ■ . . 



38 

days' labor. The distance of the coal and the ore from 
the furnaces averages there about 20 miles. 

" Now in Alabama, the coal and the ore are in many places 
within half a mile of each other. The sandstone forma- 
tion thins out towards the South, and in Tennessee and 
Alabama appears to be replaced by this bed of fossiliferous 
iron ore, which commences hi New York, with a thickness 
rarely exceeding two feet, but steadily thickens towards 
the South, averaging four feet deep in Pennsylvania, seven 
or eight feet in Tennessee, while in Alabama, probably be- 
cause the formation was crushed back upon itself in some 
way, there are places where the iron has been measured 
150 feet in thickness. 

" The manufacture of iron is carried on as yet in rather 
a crude way in Alabama ; but the cost of the iron is only 
about ten days' labor to the ton, or not far from the labor 
cost in Cleveland. Throwing aside then all questions of 
tariff for protection, here is a possibility upon the Ameri- 
can continent of producing iron at as low a cost in labor 
as hi the most favored region of the world, and allowing 
for the expense of transportation to compete with them, 
paying a higher average rate of wages than is paid in Great 
Britain. 

" The consumption of iron is increasing at a rate so 
wonderfully rapid that in ten years it will be impossible for 
Great Britain to supply the demand. There is no other 
country in the world which can make iron as cheaply as 
Great Britain. In fifty years then the United States must 
be the source from which the iron of the world will be 
derived. Instead of importing a million of tons per an- 
num, as we now do, in fifty or a hundred years we shall 
export five or ten millions per annum. This region, so 
exhaustless in its supplies, so admirably furnished with 
coal, so conveniently communicating with the Gulf, will be 
of infinitely more consequence to us for its iron than it has 
ever been for its cotton. There is the foundation for an 
industry and a prosperity which no curse of slavery, no 



39 

rebellion, no interference with commercial laws can ever 
overturn. 

" I think this will be a region of coke-made iron on a 
scale grander than has ever been witnessed on the habita- 
ble globe. The present production in the Cleveland region, 
where in 1853 there was not a furnace, is now two millions 
of tons ; and very soon it will be four millions. The pro- 
duction here will far exceed that." 

It is scarcely necessary to treat further upon this sub- 
ject, o^ the co-ordinate question of coal production. The 
two are blended together in their relations with manufac- 
tures and commerce, while the advancement of every in- 
terest, involving the prosperity of a people, is practically 
dependent upon them. 

In reviewing the details of the work just accomplished 
in the completion of the South and North Alabama 
Railroad, with especial reference to its effect upon the ma- 
terial interests of Alabama, it cannot fail to be observed, 
that precisely the same influences have at length been 
secured for this State, that have peopled the States of the 
great west and northwest, and made them rich and pros- 
perous. By a rare combination of fortunate circumstances, 
the company have not only been able to find a through 
line from the west to the sea, but to find it through a coun- 
try eminently rich in those resources of trade which con- 
stitute the chief commerce of the world. 

In opening up this portion of the State of Alabama to 
the facilities of commerce, it has also been opened to im- 
migration from other States and from foreign countries, 
and it is necessary in treating the problem of development 
to recognize and to utilize the means of attracting a popu- 
lation accustomed to work, and to give them work to do 
when we have drawn them here. It is not by any means a 
matter of merely producing a diversion of the current of 
emigration, and congregating a population, but it is a mat- 
ter which involves a systematic preparation and liberal in- 
vestment to afford remunerative labor. 

To foster and encourage particularly the manufacture of 



40 

• 

ron, I would respectfully submit, should be one of the 
prime considerations of your company. As a means of 
populating the line of the road and developing the mineral 
and agricultural resources of the country, such a policy 
would prove a permanent source of profit, while it would 
vivify the whole region through which it passes, and I regard 
this donation of land of most value, vieived as a means to aid 
the company in the accomplishment of this object. Apart 
from the high considerations of public convenience which 
makes the South and North Alabama Railroad one of the 
most important avenues of trade in the country ; nothing 
so peculiarly and persistently enforces itself upon the con- 
sideration as the subject of local manufactures. Certainly, 
in my investigations, nothing has so strikingly fixed itself 
upon my attention as this great interest, and I believe that 
I can close my report in no more fitting manner, than by 
urging the facts and suggestions here presented, though at 
the risk of seeming to repeat views already submitted for 
your consideration. 

I am, respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

Hiram Haines, 

Consult mg Engineer. 



